The Last Time

by Elodie Parkes

  He looked at the time. “Are you going over to the set to see Seth? It’s quite late now.”

  Bethany stood up. “Yes, I’m about to go. I want to go over to Seth’s trailer and remove all the panic buttons. Will you take down the webcams?”

  Jake nodded. “Yes, I’ll do it later. I’m meeting with Sara Smythe to finalize everything. We’ll email her the final report from the office.”

  Bethany slipped her jacket on. She put her cell phone in the inside pocket and picked up the key she had for Seth’s trailer from the table. She clipped the extended security pass on her lapel and looked at Jake. “I’ll pop back with Seth’s key. You will need to hand it in to Sara.”

  Jake nodded.

  Bethany walked over the short grassy space to Seth’s trailer and opened the door. A little note page fluttered behind the door in the breeze. She went in and wandered around Seth’s trailer, picking up the panic buttons. She piled them on the little table and swung the door to get the one that Jake had placed along the side of the hanging rail area.

  She touched one of Seth’s jackets hanging there and let herself think about him for a few seconds. She would simply have to come right out and tell him how she felt. If he didn’t feel the same, she would leave with Jake the next day and throw herself into work to forget him. She knew it would hurt, but there it was.

  The panic buttons on the walls were attached with sticky strips so that they left no damage. As Bethany slid the panic button off the wall of the little alcove, she saw a slip of paper in her peripheral vision. She picked it up to put in the waste paper bin under the table, where Seth’s laptop was set up next to a couple of stacks of letters. Bethany didn’t even read it until she was about to put it in the bin, when she checked to see if it might be something Seth would want.

  She stared in disbelief at the words written in ordinary lead pencil on a page torn from a little spiral bound notebook.

  Her first thought was Seth had another lover this person knew about but she didn’t. Then she shook herself. That’s a crazy thought, she realized.

  She sighed and started putting the panic buttons back from where she took them.

  Then she locked Seth’s trailer and went quickly back to her own.

  * * * *

  Bethany burst through the trailer door, throwing it wide open and leaping up the two low steps.

  “Jake, check this out; it was in Seth’s trailer. Someone must have slipped this under his door while we went out to eat. Since the recording of movements around the place was stopped when we caught Dianne, we have no idea when exactly or who did this.”

  Jake read the note and looked at Bethany with concern. “The threat is to you I take it? Does he have another lover tucked away? Who could know about you and Seth? The computer surveillance program was supposed to be on last night but…” He looked at her with a semi-amused expression. She was supposed to launch it.

  “I spent the night with Seth so it wasn’t necessary. We wouldn’t have left it running this morning anyway. Come on, admit that we never expected Dianne to do anything other than leave.”

  Jake nodded and his look was kind.

  “True. She wouldn’t have sent this. Who could this be? It sounds like someone who might mean business. There’s a different feel about these words in comparison to the letters Dianne sent.”

  “This changes things. We need to find out who this is. They may turn from threatening me to Seth. It may all be real this time. I have no idea how anyone would have known about us.”

  Bethany wondered if someone might have seen her and Seth making love in the woods the previous day. She sighed and looked at Jake.

  “Sorry.”

  He shrugged. “Go find out for sure that you are Seth’s only lover and then we will consider what to do.”

  She nodded. “Okay, here’s his trailer key. I put the panic buttons back. Set the surveillance program to watch his trailer.”

  Jake nodded back at her. “Done.”

  Bethany walked quickly to the buggy rank and caught a ride over to the set where she knew Seth was acting. They arrived just as the break started.

  Bethany saw Seth among the group carrying swords and climbing down from various elevations around the castle walls. Her heart gave a little flip and she realized she had butterflies in her stomach. It made her smile.

  He was looking for her, hoping that she had made it to take a break with him, He smiled as he strode over to her. When they stood in front of each other, she desperately wanted to hug him.

  “I have something I need to talk with you about. Can we find a quiet spot? It needs to remain private.”

  He looked puzzled for a second and then nodded.

  “Yes, of course.” He led the way to a group of vacant chairs under some of the trees, away from the catering van that was parked there for the actors to take refreshments during this scene break.

  He looked around, leaned in, and kissed her softly and quickly. Her stomach flipped again.

  “What is it? You have a serious look.”

  She took the evidence bag containing the little note from her pocket and gave it to him.

  “I found it in your trailer, more than likely stuffed under the door as usual. I have to ask you this, so please know it’s a professional question. Do you have anyone else in your life? Is there anyone, other than me, who this note could refer to?”

  Seth frowned. His eyes filled with an expression of concern as he read the little note. “This is awful. I promise you there’s no one else. I’m worried for you now.”

  He put his hand on her arm as he gave her the note back. He was still frowning.

  Bethany sighed. She slipped the note into her inside pocket.

  “Okay, at least we know the threat is directed at me. We don’t have someone else to protect now. You don’t need to worry about this.”

  Seth shook his head. “Yes, I do. You mean a lot to me and I don’t want you hurt by this new maniac.” He looked worried and sad.

  She smiled weakly at him. “Jake and I need to get to the bottom of this. Whoever it is may turn on you. Can you think of anyone who might have a crush on you strong enough to do this?” She felt as if she questioned his integrity somehow and sighed as she sat down on one of the nearby chairs.

  Seth sat alongside her.

  “No. I have no bloody idea, but we need to worry about you. I need to know you will be safe.

  “Are you still leaving tomorrow? That would throw them off perhaps. Not that I want you to leave, ever…”

  He glanced around to check if anyone was watching. No one appeared interested in them. The queue at the catering van was still long. Everyone who had their snacks already were in small groups, drinking coffee and chatting.

  Seth took Bethany’s hands. “I want you to know that I don’t want you gone, but you need to leave. I want you safe more than anything else.”

  Bethany felt his hands around hers and gazed into his eyes. She desperately wanted to kiss him and leaned a little toward him.

  “Jake is calling Brandt to fill him in. We will more than likely stay. This means someone unstable is still on the site.”

  Seth looked at her mouth. He finally leaned closer to her.

  His kiss was so loving, Bethany took her hands from his and held his face to hers. She lost herself in his kiss. Right then nothing was as important as kissing him.

  He drew back from her with emotion in his eyes. “I’m only on set for another hour. Will you go back to Jake and wait for me? I’d feel better knowing you are with your brother.”

  Bethany nodded. “I will. I need to talk with him, Brandt, and Sara Smythe. In my opinion we shouldn’t leave until we know who sent this. However, if Brandt thinks otherwise then I’ll have to abide by that.”

  Seth nodded and sat back in the chair. He took her hand again and held it against his thigh, hopefully out of sight.

  “I wonder how they know about us? I thought we were careful.”

  “Maybe it was t
hat episode in the woods. We were quite into each other and may not have noticed anyone watching.”

  He laughed at that. “We were into each other for sure. I wish we could do the same right now. I’m longing to kiss you more.”

  Bethany smiled. “Me too.”

  Seth smiled and squeezed her hand.

  They stared ahead, both wondering how things would turn out.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jake finished talking with Brandt and then spoke with Sara Smythe. To his annoyance, she was indifferent to the new threat. He avoided giving her many details about the new note and perpetrator. He was rather vague with Brandt as well. He implied the person sending this threat jumped to the conclusion Bethany was involved with Mister Carbery, but both he and Bethany agreed to sort out the threat before it turned back to the actor.

  Brandt agreed and arranged for another team to take the London case so Jake and Bethany could stay at the movie location. Jake sighed as he considered their next steps.

  * * * *

  Niall stood to one side of the catering van His view of Seth holding hands and kissing that two-timer sickened him. She had the temerity to come straight from another man to be with him. Pity he didn’t know where her trailer was because he could have sent her the note instead of Seth.

  He resolved to follow her and find out, reasoning that she must live close to Seth’s trailer in order to do her job she as his personal trainer. Niall turned away when Seth stood in response to the call to set. He couldn’t help himself, turned back, and watched them both walk toward him.

  The woman stopped next to a buggy and spoke to Seth for a moment, before he strode down to the set. Niall couldn’t follow the woman now because he was needed on set too. He decided to follow Seth instead. The guy was bound to meet up with this woman after shooting.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Before Bethany left the set, she glanced back at Seth—just the once—and saw him walking purposefully toward the next scene location. She asked the runner to hold off driving away, walked out of earshot, took out her cell phone, and called Jake.

  “Hi, Jake. What’s happening?”

  “Brandt feels we should stay. Things have to be a little more professional though. He doesn’t know about you and Seth. I think if he did, we would have been pulled out to London and the other team would come down here to sort out Seth’s stalker.”

  Bethany frowned. “I really doubt it’s a stalker.”

  Jake sighed. “Why’s that? The person knows about you and Seth. How could they unless they were watching him closely?”

  Maybe Jake was right and Seth was in danger. “I think I’ll go and watch Seth, rather than come back to the trailer. I still have the note with me. We need to do something to get this person out in the open. Right now, I am their target and I can handle that. I’ll think of a strategy to get them to show themselves.”

  Jake took a deep breath. He let it out and said, “You be careful. In fact, do nothing until I’m with you. I’ll come over right now.”

  Bethany answered, “I’ll be at the castle set.” Then she hung up.

  She let the buggy driver know she would no longer need a ride and followed a few extras going back to the set. A small group of them stopped by the row of technical equipment and chairs. The director, was there talking with Seth.

  Bethany watched the way he stood, moved, and gestured. She sighed with pleasure.

  Seth glanced around him before he went onto the castle walkway and saw Bethany. He broke into a smile. His expression was laden with such emotion the director noticed and followed his gaze. Bethany gazed back at him tenderly.

  * * * *

  Niall was hovering around in the background. He would be the actual person falling from a great height after one of the movie characters ran along the ramparts and fell. The action had been blue screened the day before but needed more shots. Niall was sorry it wouldn’t be Seth he replaced in a fall from the ramparts because then he would have more contact with him.

  He saw Seth’s smile and the woman looking back at him as if she were innocent and loving. It made him ill. He turned away, wondering how he could show Seth the woman was unfaithful.

  Right now, work had to go on and everyone had taken up their places.

  There were a few half hour scenes shot. Then, as the final call came to break and reassemble for a different scene, Niall walked from around the lumps of scenery, which hid him from view so that he was not in the camera’s scope as they filmed. He looked for Bethany.

  What he saw amazed him. She stood close to the man he had seen her with in the canteen marquee. They were talking and smiling. Niall stopped walking and looked around for Seth. He couldn’t see the actor because Seth was down below the shoulder line of the other actors on his piece of fake castle operated by hydraulics. Niall watched as the man with Bethany suddenly turned, and walked off. He was soon lost in the crowd of extras who were finished for the day.

  Niall saw Seth walk swiftly to Bethany and touch her arm. He didn’t need to do anything else to show Niall that this woman meant a lot to him.

  Niall sighed, turned away with a heavy heart. Maybe he should tell Seth about the woman—just come out with it, or maybe he would casually drop around to the actor’s trailer and tell him. Seth would know who Niall was. They just weren’t friends. Niall knew he couldn’t cope with friendship given his love for the man.

  Niall wandered away to talk with another stunt person. They were doing a tandem jump the next day.

  Chapter Thirty

  Seth walked alongside Bethany, wanting to hold her hand. “I was thinking maybe you should leave after all. I can’t stand the thought of you being in danger.”

  She glanced at him. “We have to find out who this is. In general, this kind of stuff escalates and the next thing we know, you will be the target.”

  They reached a buggy and climbed in.

  On the drive to the wardrobe area to deposit his costume, Seth took Bethany’s hand. “What’s happening about your security?”

  “Jake is setting up cameras. We think we should draw this person out. We’ve got nothing to go on as to their identity. They must watch you, otherwise how could they know we are lovers? The other question is why would they think I am two timing you? I don’t even talk to any other men—at least not to the point this person would think I was with one of them.”

  “Could they think it’s your brother? When I first met you, I thought you two were an item and not siblings,” Seth confessed as they reached the wardrobe tents.

  Bethany didn’t answer. She followed Seth, but hung around the entrance of the wardrobe tents until he arrived back in his jeans and shirt. He had wiped off some of the makeup he wore to look like grime but still had a line of kohl along the lids of his green eyes. He looked exotic.

  They sat in the buggy that had been waiting and now took them to the trailers.

  “So, why did you think Jake and me were an item and not siblings?” Bethany questioned as they traveled.

  “You were sick and he was so concerned about you. He looked at you with love, often. I didn’t expect someone like you to be single.” He looked at her and his eyes sparkled.

  Bethany grinned back at him. “I didn’t expect someone like you to be single either.”

  They gazed at each other longingly, wanting to kiss.

  When the buggy drew up at Seth’s trailer, they barely made it through the door before Seth clasped Bethany to him, kissing her and whispering to her how much he wanted her.

  She responded by completely molding her body to his and pressing against him until he groaned a little.

  “I need to check in with Jake in a moment or two. I’m thinking your stalker assumed the same as you did—that he’s my lover. That makes sense.”

  He kissed her again, holding her hips to his, and grinding a little into her so she could feel his erection. She teased his tongue with her own as they kissed.

  She moved her hands along his hips and d
own to the bulge in his jeans. She wanted to feel his skin, the weight of his erection, and shape of his hipbones under her fingertips—in any order, just as long as she did soon.

  Her cell phone rang in her pocket. She stopped stroking Seth, moving back a little.

  “Sorry, I have to take this.”

  It was Jake asking to see her. He knew she was in Seth’s trailer. He saw them arrive and go in as the webcams streamed to his laptop.

  “Hi, the webcams are set up and I have great views of both ours and Seth’s trailer from all angles.”

  I’ll be over there in a few minutes, okay?” Bethany assured her brother.

  As she said this, Seth grimaced and whispered, “A few minutes?”

  Bethany hung up and put her cell phone back in her pocket.

  Seth moved back to her. “I hoped you could stay the night,” he told her as he pulled her back against him. He began kissing along her neck and pushing her jacket away.

  Bethany held his head, guiding him back to kiss his lips. She savored his closeness and then moved.

  “I have to see Jake. What are you doing about dinner tonight? It’s actually an early finish for you so we could eat at the canteen tent and talk.”

  He smiled at her and agreed. “Okay. I’ll get the rest of the makeup off my face and come over to your trailer.”

  She shook her head.

  “No. We’ll come to you. Message me when you’re ready.”

  She left him then before she fell into making love to him.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Jake watched her close Seth’s trailer door and walk the few steps to their own trailer. He smiled as she entered and stood up from the laptop where his webcams streamed clear pictures to two computer windows. The same pictures were streaming to Bethany’s laptop on the opposite side of the table and to the two iPads—one in his bedroom and one in hers. Everything was recorded. Jake was determined to make sure both his sister and Seth stayed safe.